She and her husband are protesting not about paying taxes per se, but to the selective enforcement of the rules and the coddling of corporate entities such as HSBC: Greg Wise, the actor married to Oscar winner Emma Thompson, has said he and his wife will refuse to pay tax until those involved in the HSBC scandal go to prison.

Even more impressive on the gif of planetary rotation. The latest images from Nasa’s Dawn spacecraft reveal a pair of bright spots on Ceres, a 590-mile-wide dwarf planet, with the brightest of the two reflecting at least 40% of the sunlight that falls on it.

YouTube link. The travesty is detailed at ABC News: Sen. Jim Inhofe, a devoted climate change denier, tossed a snowball at someone on the Senate floor today as he tried to debunk climate change. “In case we had forgotten because we keep hearing that 2014 has been the warmest year on record, I ask the chair: You know what this is?

YouTube link. Created by NASA: "The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet....

I had always assumed that eyelashes evolved simply to keep particulate matter out of the eyes. Now a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface reports that particulates are only half the story; eyelashes also divert airflow to prevent drying of the eyes.

This story comes from rural Wisconsin: An anonymous donor's gift has come to fruition at Arrowhead. In August 2014, the school board approved the renovation of the North Campus girls and boys basketball locker rooms after an initial $275,000 donation from a donor.

From an article explaining how the prison system in the United States has been corporatized into profitable ventures: The profits generated by the corrections economy have not been definitively calculated, and a comprehensive audit would be a staggering accounting task.

Lots of conflicting demands for my time. Need to get this stuff done now, while we're still gripped by the polar vortex, because as soon as spring arrives, outdoor activities will beckon. If you need something to read this week, try browing the "categories" in the right sidebar.